Will USA Immigration Reforms Become Reality In 2014?

The illegal immigrants in the United States of America were hoping to see the comprehensiveness immigration reform bill passed in the House during 2013 but Congress left for holidays leaving the issue unfinished. There will be lot of pressure on politicians during 2014 to come to agree to overhaul the country’s immigration laws. The chances of any breakthrough in tackling this contentious issue are not bright during 2014 and comprehensive immigration reform bill will not be passed in the House of Representatives.

Comprehensive immigration reforms bill was passed in summer that promises pathway to citizenship for about 11 million illegal immigrants in the United States of America. This was the major achievement towards reforming the immigration system. However, the House never had any intention of passing the Senate approved immigration bill.

President Barack Obama showed flexibility in his approach towards the immigration bill and said that he will consider piecemeal approach as long as it will achieve the same goals as laid out in the comprehensive immigration reform bill. However, the Republicans oppose any option that will be considered as blanket amnesty for all those who crossed the country’s border illegally or have overstayed their visas.

House Speaker John Boehner opposes comprehensive immigration bill in the House of the Representatives. Despite the fact that some smaller immigration bills were introduced, none was put to vote in the House during 2013.

The advocates of the immigration reforms have been mounting pressure on the House representatives as they see the House as the main hurdle in passing the immigration bill. They have also been criticizing the President Barack Obama due to increased number of illegal immigrants being deported. Immigration and Citizenship Enforcement (ICE) deported 368,644 undocumented immigrants in 2013.

The leadership, especially Boehner who as expressed his commitment to reform the country’s immigration laws, will play the key role in the immigration policy during 2014. The fact that not even a single immigration bill was put to vote on the floor of House demonstrate that 2014 may not see any major progress towards immigration reforms.

However, the growing pressure from Republican fellow members because of the coming elections may force the leadership to act and do something on immigration in 2014. The pressure from the advocates of immigration reforms and fellow Republicans in the House will see some smaller immigration reforms bill without providing any pathway to citizenship and blanket amnesty passed during 2014.